In performing various surgical repair operations it is necessary to anchor a suture to bone, typically in order to connect muscle to the bone, in the same manner as a healthy tendon. One apparatus for effecting this anchoring is to provide a suture that has some structure on or about it that can be compacted by a surgeon performing some action, such as drawing on a piece of suture material. The structure is introduced into a pilot hole, and is compacted, so that it forms a hard ball that sets by digging into the sides of the pilot hole, thereby anchoring the suture.
Although the soft suture anchor has a range of advantages over metal anchors, such as screws, the setting action is not always as robust as would be desirable. A poorly set anchor may work its way loose over time, resulting in a slack bone-muscle connection, which could cause a great deal of dissatisfaction on the part of a patient. In the worst case situation, the anchor works its way free of the bone, undoing the bone-to-muscle connection.